Monthly Archives: August 2008

bird scarer

Posted on August 28, 2008 by readingroom

“Poetry is not about making things happen,” claims poet-critic Donald Revell, “That’s what language does. Poetry is about making language happen.” The poems in Glenn Sheldon’s first full-length collection, The Bird Scarer, live up to this decree and then some; … Continue reading →

Posted in reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

the art of the poetic line

Posted on August 21, 2008 by readingroom

James Longenbach’s assertion in The Art of the Poetic Line that “the line’s function is sonic” (xi) is a rhetorical flourish, an exercise in creative overstatement intended to open eyes to a truth about poetry as much as to say … Continue reading →

Posted in reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

the blueing hours

Posted on August 20, 2008 by readingroom

Albert DeGenova’s The Blueing Hours moves from darkness to light –  the reader moves from passion to doubt to the struggle to survive intact – in a brilliantly structured book which carries the reader to dawn.  This isn’t surprising for … Continue reading →

Posted in reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

wild flight

Posted on August 9, 2008 by readingroom

“Upon Being Asked What I Believe In,” near the end of Christine Rhein’s Walt McDonald Prize winning Wild Flight, is a key to the whole collection. She begins with language: “I say, for starters, the word in, / the way … Continue reading →

Posted in reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

twenty poems to nourish your soul

Posted on August 7, 2008 by readingroom

In a literary market replete with mediocre inspirational verse, Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul is a celebration of the best spiritual writing, both prose and poetry. Anyone seeking the saccharine will be sadly disappointed. Judith Valente, a former Wall … Continue reading →

Posted in reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment